Tree Planting

At Virtue, we support a number of tree planting and reforestation initiatives from across the world with our primary tree planting partners including Eden Reforestation and Ripple Africa. Any fundraising for our reforestation efforts will be allocated to one of the mentioned projects (depending on availability, workforce needs, planting season, etc)

Tree Planting Projects across the world:

Madagascar

- More than 90% of Madagascar's primary forests are destroyed, impacting people living in extreme poverty
the most.
- Madagascar is one of the world’s top biodiversity conservation priorities because of its endemic species and severe habitat loss rates. Reforestation in Madagascar is important because the destruction of the mangrove estuaries along the coastline has caused mudflats to wash into the ocean, destroying once-productive fisheries and increasing the vulnerability of coastal communities to hurricanes, tsunamis, and floods. In the dry deciduous forests, deforestation threatens one of the world’s rarest and most diverse forest systems.


Mozambique

- With over 45% of Mozambique's population living beneath the poverty line, communities rely heavily on natural resources and forests.
- Mozambique is home to extensive biodiversity and varying landscapes with forests at the core of its social, environmental, and economic well-being. However, more than 8 million hectares of forest (over 30,000 square miles) have been destroyed. Cyclones, floods, cutting down trees for firewood and charcoal, clearing large areas for farmland, and commercial logging are the leading causes of deforestation in Mozambique.


Kenya

- Over 90% of Kenya has been deforested. The dangerous combination of logging, charcoal burning and illegal settling will only accelerate forest loss.
- Located on the eastern coast of Africa, Kenya is a country famous for its diverse wildlife and wide range of forest types that have long supported its communities. However, in recent decades these forests have experienced extreme environmental degradation. Human activities such as logging, charcoal burning, and illegal settling to create farmland are significant factors of deforestation. This has caused an increase in severe drought and extreme poverty. As a result, Kenya has committed to its reforestation, specifically looking to achieve a 10% forest cover, and we are working closely with the government to help accomplish these commitments.


Ethiopia

- By working with the local community, we will plant trees across 10,000 hectares to help reforest degraded landscapes, increase water resources, and decrease the impact of landslides while alleviating extreme poverty for communities in need.
- Inequitable development, slash-and-burn agricultural practices, charcoal production, and general overexploitation of forest resources have contributed significantly to the degradation of Ethiopia’s forest habitats. Plus, most communities in these rural regions rely directly on the land to meet their daily needs, such as food, water, and shelter. As forests continue to disappear, the less these communities are able to survive off the land’s natural resources.


Nepal

- Today less than 30% of Nepal's forests remain and the consequences of this environmental degradation are devastating for local populations.
- Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world with many communities depending on the natural environment for food, shelter, and income. Today, less than 30% of its original forests remain due to over-harvesting, forest fires, and agriculture. The effects of this degradation are devastating for the local communities and wildlife.


Indonesia

- Indonesia is home to 23% of the world’s mangrove forests. Deforestation in the last 50 years has caused it to lose 40% of those vital forests.
- Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet and home to about 23% of the world’s mangrove forests. However, in the last 50 years, Indonesia has lost over 40% of its mangrove forests. It is also consistently ranked in the top three countries for the highest rate of deforestation. The effects of deforestation have significantly impacted indigenous communities, who are often the first to feel the negative effects of climate change.


The Philippines

- Deforestation in the Philippines primarily began in the 1960s and has since destroyed nearly 90% of the forest, displacing rural community members. Through our Employ to Plant methodology, we will plant over 3,000 hectares (nearly 7,500 acres) of forest land while employing local people.
- Logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, land development, and forest fires are major factors contributing to the high deforestation rate in the Philippines. Starting in the 1960s, Philippine mahogany was cut down almost entirely to extinction. The disappearance of these trees led to soil erosion, contaminated waterways, and indigenous communities displaced from their land. As more forest is lost, biodiversity drops, plant, and animal species go extinct, and indigenous communities lose the productivity of their land.


Haiti

- With 1% of the primary forest remaining, reforestation in Haiti is more important than ever.
- Deforestation began in Haiti when colonizers cut down trees for coffee, indigo, tobacco, and sugarcane plantations run by slave labor. Today, the leading cause of this deforestation is charcoal production and the consequences have been devastating. A mere 1% of its primary forests remain, and the UN estimates that 30% of those remaining trees are destroyed each year.


Honduras

- Pine beetles and fires have devastated Honduras’ forests. Our team is currently restoring and conserving more than 12,000 hectares of forest, bringing biodiversity and economic opportunity to surrounding communities.
- Between 2011 and 2015, Honduras lost 500,000 hectares (nearly 2,000 sq. miles, 5,000 sq. kilometers) of forest due to an infestation of disease-carrying pine beetles. The destruction of forests caused water tables to run low, protected areas to lose valuable biodiversity, and surrounding communities to lose jobs. By working directly with local communities to reforest these regions, our team is helping restore the water supply, create a natural habitat for local wildlife, and provide communities with job opportunities and resources to build up their economy.


Brazil

- By restoring thousands of hectares of forest in three states across Brazil: Goiás, Maranhão, and Piauí, our team is protecting biodiversity in the Amazon, the Cerrado, and mangrove estuaries
- The growth of the agriculture industry is the main cause of deforestation in Brazil. Intensive farming techniques cause the soil to quickly wear down, escalate greenhouse gas emissions, and threaten the protection of traditional groups, indigenous people, and Quilombola communities. By reforesting nearly 30,000 hectares (115 sq. miles, 300 sq. kilometers) in the Amazon, the Cerrado, and along the coast we are helping restore ecosystems while creating financial opportunities for surrounding communities.

Primary Partner(s): Eden Reforestation, Ripple Africa